When Your Pain Becomes Mine

***

The Blue Rose Veterinary Hospital.

When Eunwoo heard about Labong's behavior from Sun, he started to speak slowly while he looked at Labong,

"It seems like Labong is highly stressed because of anxiety."

Sun's eyes widened once she heard Eunwoo words.

"Anxiety and stress…?"

Eunwoo nodded and started speaking again.

"When dogs are all alone for a long time in a house without their owners, they feel lonely and anxious. It's the same with human beings. That's why Labong has done something he had never done before and is acting strangely because he can't deal with the stress."

"Oh..."

Sun looked at Labong as if her heart had broken.

"If the owner comes home and yells at their dog when the dog is happy to see them, the relationship between the dog and the owner could grow apart."

"Then what should I do better for him?"

"Try to stay with the dog as long as possible and take a walk every once in a while. The more energy they use, the less they'll mess around in your home."

"As you know, I work until late at night."

"It's okay to walk the dogs late at night. A lot of people these days walk their dogs at night."

Sun nodded after hearing Eunwoo's word.

When she came home late, she sometimes encountered people who were walking their dogs.

"I feel very sorry for him. I think I've made him lonely. I didn't take care of him well enough..."

Sun said while looking at Labong in distress."

"Labong gets lonely more because he loves to be with you."

"Oh?"

"He is so happy to be with you, that's why he gets more lonely when he is alone."

Sun giggled at Eunwoo's statement.

"I feel a little better after hearing you say that."

"I didn't say it to comfort you. I said it because it's true."

Sun opened her eyes wide and looked at Eunwoo.

"It's fun to be with you, even I would like to see you more often, and I think about you when I'm alone. Labong probably would feel the same or even more so."

She smiled awkwardly when she saw Eunwoo smiling at her.

"By the way, have you been to a night market?"

"What's the night market? I've heard about it once."

Sun recalled a few times that she had seen it on social media.

"It's hot these days. There is a lot of food to enjoy. Would you like to go there with me sometime soon?"

"Sounds good. It's going to be fun." Sun responded with a smile.

"Great. I'll call you in a few days for an appointment."

"Sure. Thank you very much for seeing me today this late at night."

"I had a surgery that had finished late anyways. It's okay." Eunwoo said.

"Well, then let me buy you dinner when we go to the night market."

"Really? Can I look forward to it?"

"Sure."

"Great. Go home. You must be tired."

"Yes. See you later."

Sun smiled and left the hospital while holding Labong in her arms.

Eunwoo watched her walking away from his hospital while standing still. He looked at his cell phone that he held in his hand.

"Dr. Park, if you're available tomorrow, can you go to the night market with Sun tomorrow evening..."

It was a text message from Ari.

"Hmm… a night market..."

Eunwoo's face was filled with an excited smile.

***

When Sun returned home, she put Labong's favorite snack in a bowl for him.

Labong was excited and ate the entire snack frantically.

"I'm sorry, Labong." Sun apologized while stroking Labong's head.

It kept bothering her to think that she couldn't take care of Labong.

"I'll come home early and take you for a walk more often. Okay?"

"Ruff, Ruff!"

Labong barked pleasantly at her, seemingly understanding what she said.

Sun hugged Labong, still feeling sorry for him.

"But by the way... when am I going to get this all out..."

Sun sighed as she looked at the living room that was in disarray.

She was so shocked by Labong's strange behavior that she had not yet cleaned it up.

"Hmm."

She rose and began to clean the living room.

She set the trash bin up and place the laundry back in the washing machine.

When she took a broom and swept away the pieces of papers, a crumpled sketchbook caught her eye. It was the sketchbook that was given to her from Sister Andrea when she went to the orphanage not long ago.

"I'm sorry..."

When she saw the sketchbook that was crumpled, her mind grew heavy because it wasn't even hers.

After she picked up the sketchbook from the floor, she turned to a page and looked at the pictures one at a time.

The drawing that was painted with black crayons made the viewer's mind heavy. However, the picture on the very first page seemed like it was scratched by something sharp.

"What is this?"

Labong must have scratched it with his claws, and the parts where the black crayon peeled off revealed a red color underneath.

As a child, she remembered the scratch class that she had at her school.

They painted a canvas with all kinds of colors before covering it in black and scr.a.p.ed it with a sharp tool at the end of the drawing.

She carefully scr.a.p.ed the picture with her fingernails.

As the black color peeled off, the obscured picture began to be revealed.

It wasn't just a simple pattern, but a person's face.

She was surprised and pulled a coin out of a drawer and started scraping the rest of the picture.

"This, this is..."

How long has time passed?

The black spots that were peeled off by the coin showed a great picture.

It was Gyeonhui when he was a boy while holding his mom's hand.

She remembered the moment she greeted Sister Andrea at the orphanage.

"It's a sketchbook he used to draw when he was a kid."

"Why are you giving this to me..."

"I wanted to have at least one person who would look at him right in this world. This picture and Gyeonhui."

She then recalled what Ojae had said.

"Yes, it's a place with a special story."

"A special story?"

"That's all I can say. There will be moments in the future where he may talk about his own story in detail."

"No way…"

Sun's expression suddenly darkened.

'Kung, Kung, Kung.'

Then, suddenly, she heard someone knocking on the door.

She was surprised and looked at the door.

"Cheonsun! Open the door!"

She heard his voice from outside the door.

60. Your specialty is indecisiveness

She had only heard him talking about his mother, Mrs. Shin, once.

"What kind of person is she, Gyeonhui?" Sun asked because she had never met her before.

"... The vice president of the company."

He responded with a cold tone.

"I mean, what kind of person is she, not her position."

Gyeonhui's expression hardened after hearing her question for a second time. Sun had to shut her mouth because she couldn't comprehend the sudden change in his expression.

"… A person who can throw a child away and pick them up again."

With his angry expression and words, Sun could no longer ask any other questions.